''Jia Yong'', formerly MV ''Shen Neng 1'' () was a Chinese

bulk carrier A bulk carrier or bulker is a merchant ship specially naval architecture, designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo—such as Grain trade, grain, coal, ore, steel coils, and cement—in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrie ...

built in 1993 as ''Bestore''. She was sold in 2007 and renamed ''Shen Neng 1''. In 2010, she ran aground off Great Keppel Island in

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, spilling oil into

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system, composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

waters. She was repaired and returned to service, where she operated until being scrapped in 2017.

Construction

She was built as ''Bestore'' by Sanoyas Hishino Meisho in 1993 at long overall, with a beam of and a draught of . Her air draught was . The ship was powered by a 2-stroke Single Action 6-cylinder Sulzer 6RTA62

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

driving a single screw propeller. The engine could propel her at .

History

''Bestore'' was owned by Scinicariello Ship Management,

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. She was sold for in 2007, and was renamed as ''Shen Neng 1'', meaning "Shenzhen Energy" in Chinese, when sold to Shenzhen Energy in 2007. Her callsign was BXAN. She was allocated IMO number 9040871, and the MMSI 413461550. The ship was owned by Shenzhen Energy Transportation Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of Shenzhen Energy, whose logo appeared on her funnel. She was managed by TOSCO‐KEYMAX International Ship Management Co. Ltd, a Sino-Japanese joint venture, and carried a crew of 23.

Great Barrier Reef grounding

On 3 April 2010, while transiting from

Gladstone, Queensland Gladstone () is a coastal city in the Gladstone Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the Gladstone urban area had a population of 45,185 people. It is by road north-west of the state capital, Brisbane, and south-east of Rockhampton, Queensl ...

, to China carrying a cargo of 65,000 tonnes of

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

, ''Shen Neng 1 ''ran aground off Great Keppel Island,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, at geographic coordinates . At the time of the grounding, ''Shen Neng 1'' was reported to have been travelling at full speed. She was severely damaged on her port side, and a long oil slick was later reported to have been seen. The ship's engine and rudder were damaged in the grounding. The ship went aground outside the shipping lane. It is in a restricted area which forms part of the

Great Barrier Reef Marine Park The Great Barrier Reef Marine Park protects a large part of Australia's Great Barrier Reef from damaging activities. It is a vast multiple-use Marine Park which supports a wide range of uses, including commercial marine tourism, fishing, ports an ...

, a

World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...

designated by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. As a result of the grounding, the fuel tanks of the vessel were punctured, allowing fuel oil to leak from the vessel. It was feared that the ship might break in two. 2,000 litres of the chemical dispersant Corexit 9527 was applied to the oil slick. A salvage contract was awarded to Svitzer, led by Jan Polderman SVITZER Salvage B.V. and Drew Shannon of SVITZER Salvage Australia, who co-ordinated the salvage response. Salvage engineers from Australia and marine surveyors assisted stabilise the vessel, coordinate resources and provide expert advice to salvage masters acting at the time. ''Shen Neng 1'' was refloated on 12 April 2010, after forecasts of bad weather meant that the salvage operation was brought forward. There were reports that large areas of the coral reef were damaged by the ship. On 14 April, the captain and officer on watch at the time of the accident were arrested. They were charged and appeared in court on 15 April.

Investigation

Two investigations have been opened into the grounding. The investigations are being conducted by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said that the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

would be investigating why the ship was so far off route. It was reported that the ship's owner could be fined $1,000,000 and ''Shen Neng 1's'' captain $220,000. The ATSB despatched three investigators to

, on 4 April to collect evidence and conduct interviews. On 6 April they boarded the ship to interview the crew members and collect further evidence. The preliminary phase of the investigation was scheduled to take 28 days. A casualty co-ordinator from the AMSA boarded the ship. Three vessels were reported as giving assistance at the scene. The preliminary investigation has found fatigue as the major contributor to the grounding. Prior to the grounding, there were no checks to ensure fatigue was minimised by the governing authorities (AMSA). A news story claimed that the ship was attempting to take a shortcut when it ran aground.

References

External links